Tuesday, September 26, 2017

The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson

The beloved author of the Mystic Creek series gifts readers with a novel of homespun holiday cheer, as two families discover the joy of hope and redemption....

Widow Maddie McLendon has uprooted her life to move to Rustlers Gulch with her son and grandson. But as a brutal Montana winter looms on the horizon, contractors have yet to break ground on their new house, leaving them to live in a makeshift camp of trailers, tents, and sheds....

Since his wife died six years earlier, millionaire rancher Sam Conacher has been content to wallow in his grief alone, while keeping a tight rein on his twenty-six-year-old daughter. But now the girl has gone and fallen in love with his foolish new neighbor’s no-good son....

Maddie and Sam will never see eye to eye on anything, until a near-tragedy gives them a true glimpse into each other’s souls. And as the first snowflakes begin to fall, they’ll discover that an open heart is the biggest gift of all....

The Christmas Room was a sweet and emotional romance novel about strong families. The characters in this book were all well-written and developed characters who went through a lot. They were realistic characters who had to deal with some very real issues. The author did a great job at creating memorable and believable characters.

My favorite character in this book was a man named Sam. Sam was a bit of a grouch and held onto some dark emotions. He tended to be a bit rude and sometimes misunderstood situations. His pent-up dark emotions caused him to lash out and be a bit snarky, but I loved watching him grow throughout the book. Watching him learn about love and forgiveness was a heart-warming journey.

There were so many real-life issues that were addressed in this book. This book dealt with love, loss, parenthood, guilt, support, and so many other things. I thought the author did a good job at presenting these issues throughout the plot to keep the book interesting. I will admit that I felt like the book was a little too long. I understood the desire to really develop some of the hurdles brought up in the book, but I felt like it could have been condensed to make the book feel faster paced.

What was so unique about this book was the romance. There were two romances from different generations presented in this story, and I thought that was a really unique and charming element. I loved watching the couples learn to love each other and overcome the obstacles of life together.

This book gave me all the warm and fuzzy feels of the holidays. This is a heartwarming story that focuses on life, family, regret, forgiveness, and love. If you are looking for a contemporary book that will make you feel all the feels, I would recommend checking this book out!